


Off-script

by Likealichen (Khalehla), likealichen



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF
Genre: Anthony Mackie is a good bro, Infinity Wars set, M/M, Off-screen Relationship(s), On set filming, Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-22 13:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9609026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khalehla/pseuds/Likealichen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/likealichen/pseuds/likealichen
Summary: Anthony watches Sebastian’s retreating form for a little bit longer, but as he’s about to turn back to his trailer, he sees Chris round the corner and stop as Sebastian approaches him, smiling as they chat in the hallway. He’s not spying on them, but he can’t look away; he’s curious, he admits, to see how the two interact with each other when they think no-one is around, so he stays still, and watches.Anthony ponders Chris and Sebastian





	

When he looks back on it later, Anthony is 75% sure that being on set that day was a complete accident. Some might call it fate, but he was never a big believer in fate so he brushes it off as one of those coincidences that can be interpreted too many ways for anything to be sure. 

He’d been on location practicing his stunts with his double, and they’d called for a break sometime after lunch. He’d wandered over to the set knowing that Chris and Sebastian were filming a couple of scenes, and because he had nothing better to do, he’d decided to stay and watch. It’s one of those scenes; a ‘Steve and Bucky Against the World’ moment which, if he remembered correctly, meant a stubborn and angry Steve Rogers trying to explain to a cautious and equally stubborn Bucky Barnes why they were yet again running head long into another superhero conflict even though they were technically still wanted fugitives. 

Which is why he’s slightly confused as to why, instead of some tense hand waving and angry expressions, he’s witnessing Chris clinging on to Sebastian as though he’s about to break down. Sebastian is pale, his expression that heart wrenching mix of confusion and inevitability that he’d been wearing for pretty much all of Civil War, his right hand resting on Chris’s shoulder as the blonde pleads with his eyes. 

“ _Steve…_ ” Sebastian all but breathes, and Chris shivers but doesn’t answer for a long while. 

There is silence. And not just the silence of a recording set, but the silence of tension, of energy, of intent. Looking around Anthony can see that it’s not just him enraptured by what’s happening. The Russo brothers - who should have called an end to scene 30 seconds ago - are watching the scene intently. 

Chris is breathing heavily through his nose now, right hand clenched around Sebastian’s metal wrist so tightly that his own knuckles are white with the effort. “I can’t do this without you Buck,” he whispers raggedly. “Never again.” 

The raw emotion in Chris’s voice drags electricity up and down Anthony’s spine, and the shift in the atmosphere is so palpable that he can almost taste it. If Chris and Sebastian had gone slightly off-script earlier, at this point they were well and truly into improvisation territory, and Anthony just knows that there was no way in hell anyone - directors, camera men, stage crew - were going to stop shooting now. This was no longer a scene in which Chris and Sebastian were pretending to be a pair of hundred-year old comic book characters, they were _actually_ Steve and Bucky: best friends, brothers-in-arms, (and if half the fandom were to be believed) soulmates. This was moment in time in which two people who meant the world to each other were simply just trying to hold on and live another day, try to find a way to keep going in a world that they hardly belonged; two people who believed that as long as they had each other, everything would be alright in the end. Anthony feels like he’s just witnessed something intimate, so true, and he swallows down the growing lump in his throat. 

When Seb- no, _Bucky_ , shifts his flesh hand to Steve’s neck and squeezes gently, Steve shudders, a small, tight smile curving his lips. Bucky bumps their foreheads together and Steve finally opens his eyes, this time a determined expression settling on his way. It eases the line on Bucky’s forehead, and Steve lets out a slow breath as they step away from each other. 

“You ready to face the world?” Steve asks lowly. 

Bucky squeezes one last time, before straightening up, his expression settling into one more familiar with the Winter Soldier than the world-weary Barnes. “Ready when you are.” 

When Joe finally calls out “Cut”, there is no sudden rush of sound into the void, no quick movements and conferring over cameras. Anthony looks around and notices the almost dazed expression on some of the crew’s faces, the thoughtful expression on both Russo brothers’ face as they look at each other, then Chris and Sebastian. 

The two men in question are the only ones who don’t seem to notice the tension in the atmosphere still, as they talk lightly. Anthony sighs. He’s not going to read too much into what just happened there, but he has the feeling that it wasn’t what most people expected. 

“That was some take,” someone says quietly behind him “Do you think it’ll make the final cut?" 

“I hope so,” another person responds just as quietly. “Jesus, that was _intense_.” 

Whatever the first person’s response to that is, he’ll never know, as the volume in the warehouse finally reaches something closer to normal and the conversation behind him gets drowned out in the noise, and really,  he’s not at all at ease at the knowing that he wasn’t the only one who sensed something surreal in that last filmed scene. 

But it’s none of his business, and filming during Civil War had proved that for all Steve and Bucky’s relationship was central to the storyline, the directors and whoever made the final decision were more than happy to cut out crucial scenes of the two friends if they decided that it didn’t quite fit into the _wholesome_ portrayal that they were aiming for; this little interlude today would more than likely suffer the same fate as those numerous cut scenes despite half the fandom (and any number of crew and the actors in the franchise) wishing that the relationship would take a slightly more romantic path. Again it’s none of his business and not his decision, but Anthony secretly thinks that the higher-ups seriously reconsidering their “friends only”  slant on Steve and Bucky’s relationship would add to the movie, not detract from it. 

He shakes his head as he heads to his trailer, trying to leave the moment behind, but he bumps into Sebastian halfway there, and he stops, because he finds he just can’t help himself. 

“That was some take,” he says to his co-actor, echoing the words spoken earlier. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a scene that intense.” 

Sebastian grins at him, nodding. “I was a bit worried it was going to come out too forced, too cliché, but it turned out well, I think.” 

Anthony squints at his friend, not sure if Sebastian is being deliberately obtuse, or he actually doesn’t realise how off-script he and Chris had been. “I didn’t realise you guys planned it like that,” he says, going for nonchalant. 

“We didn’t even talk about it, it was sort of just go with the flow and see what felt natural.” 

And “natural” in that scene seemed to be ~~Chris and Sebastian~~ Steve and Bucky once again unafraid to show the world the extents they would go through for each other. _For reasons_. Which were apparently strictly platonic. Wow, when did the Avengers turn into a daytime soap drama? 

“Well it was very convincing,” Anthony says with a raised eyebrow. “At one stage I was pretty sure you were gonna land one on him.” 

Any other person on set and Anthony wouldn’t have dared infer anything, but he and Sebastian had become friends over the last two Cap movies, and he was about 80% sure that Sebastian would take his words as simple teasing. 

“If only I could,” Sebastian laughs, rolling his eyes. “But you know that’s hardly something _best friends_ would do.” 

“I hate to say this Seb, but nothing you and Chris did in that last scene could be mistaken for only “best friends”.” 

“You’re exaggerating,” Sebastian laughs again. “It wasn’t like that at all.” 

No way can Sebastian be this obtuse, he _had_ to know what he was doing the whole time. 

“Let’s just say that after that scene, I can almost guarantee that half the crew went to take a cold shower and the other half are probably crying over Steve and Bucky’s epic romance. I’m not sure what you and Chris were aiming for there, but if Tragic Love Story wasn’t it, then you may have to do a retake.” 

Sebastian tips his head to the side and smiles crookedly. “They didn’t call us back for a re-shoot,” he says, both avoiding the question and pointing out that even their directors couldn’t fault their acting. Well, no-one could fault them after that little scene, but Anthony wasn’t making a point about their acting skills. 

“Not yet,” he agrees, “but I’d be surprised if there isn’t going to be some sort of… discussion on whether the scene accurately portrays where they want the movie to be heading.” 

“And we’ll deal with it if it comes to that,” Sebastian nods, seemingly unperturbed at the suggestion that the directors could maybe be unhappy with the scene. “I have no problems shooting that scene again.” 

Of course you don’t, Anthony thinks, and somehow he doesn’t think Chris has does either. Instead of voicing his thoughts, he excuses himself and let’s Sebastian pass him as he heads in the other direction. 

Anthony watches Sebastian’s retreating form for a little bit longer, but as he’s about to turn back to his trailer, he sees Chris round the corner and stop as Sebastian approaches him, smiling as they chat in the hallway. He’s not spying on them, but he can’t look away; he’s curious, he admits, to see how the two interact with each other when they think no-one is around, so he stays still, and watches. 

Before long it’s almost like Anthony is experiencing déjà vu, his vision doubling as another scene, one older, in black and white, overlays itself over his two fellow cast members; it’s like he’s watching two silent films in tandem. He knows this scene, is familiar with it as though he had actually been on set at the time they were filming, and even though he hadn’t even been a part of the first Captain America movie, those short few seconds were iconic in themselves, because that unscripted silent film that had been shot as part of the Smithsonian reels had been a true insight into Steve and Bucky’s relationship. He’s almost seeing it again, Chris and Sebastian smiling, chatting, (and _God_ his slightly younger self would cringe at him here) gazing fondly at each other. There was just so much affection in the way they’d interacted in that moment that Anthony wonders now exactly how much acting they’d been doing at the time, or whether, as reports had it, the lack of script had given Chris and Sebastian the freedom to bring their interpretations of Steve and Bucky to life. 

And he’s seeing it again, here, off camera this time, Chris punching Sebastian lightly in the shoulder, the brunette’s head tilting back in laughter as Chris is looking at him with an expression just this side of wonder. Everything about their stance positively screams affection and ease and a muted intimacy that would be jarring if he hadn’t witnessed the take earlier. 

It can’t be, Anthony thinks. There was nothing more there than two actors - _friends_ , they’d both insisted in interviews past - who respected each other’s ability and genuinely enjoyed each other’s company. Their ease in each other’s presence must just be reflecting a lot truer in their characters. Anthony shakes his head again. Whatever it was, it was none of his business, he was just a friend, a co-worker and fellow actor. 

That doesn’t stop him from secretly cheering Steve and Bucky on, though. 


End file.
